Felix Kersten - After The War

After The War

In his post-war memoirs Kersten takes credit for saving, among others, the whole Dutch people from forced deportation to the Nazi-occupied East. In 1953 the Dutch government nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize on this account.

However a later official Dutch investigation concluded that no such plan had ever existed and that some of Kersten's documents were fabricated. The Swedish archives testify that Kersten was intermediary between Himmler and Count Folke Bernadotte in the negotiations that led to the rescue operation 'The White Buses', saving hundreds of Norwegians and Danes from certain death in the last days of the Third Reich.

Kersten’s claims of being instrumental in saving Finland’s Jews from German hands may be exaggerated, but the Finnish government did use his services in the hope of influencing Himmler.

After the War Kersten lived in West Germany and Sweden, taking Swedish citizenship in 1953.

Kersten's war memoirs were published in English translation in 1947 and a second edition was published in 1956 (The Kersten memoirs, 1940-1945, London 1956) with an introduction by H. R. Trevor-Roper.